Renee M. McMahon

Director of Human Resources & Administrative Services

Carroll College

1601 N. Benton Ave.

Helena, MT   59625

Carroll College:  Non Scholae sed Vitae:  Not for School but for Life

Skylar,

Thank you for your email.  Unfortunately, we are not allowed to rely on it in lieu of a signed FERPA release.  I am copying Renee McMahon so that she can send a FERPA release to you that you can use and that will comply with the legal requirements. 

Sincerely,

On Feb 10, 2017, at 5:27 PM, Skylar Ittner <[email protected]> wrote:

 

I, Skylar Ittner, hereby waive my FERPA rights to privacy in all matters regarding this case to any and all persons who have an interest in it or would like to know about it. Most of the details are already on my website, so I don't think there is any harm in letting anyone who cares know about the details of this case. I think that transparency should be highly valued, as it holds the college accountable for any actions they may take that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

I did give both Emily and Renee a signed piece of paper saying that my mother has full access to the case. They should still have that somewhere.

--
Skylar Ittner

-------- Original Message --------
From:"Evans, Thomas" <[email protected]>
Sent:Fri, 10 Feb 2017 17:03:39 -0700
To:Vicki Hentz <[email protected]>
Cc:"Lenneman, Marc" <[email protected]>,"Thies, Daniel " <[email protected]>,[email protected]," [email protected]" <[email protected]>,"McMahon, Renee " <[email protected]>,Skylar Ittner <[email protected]>
Subject:Re: Catholicism at Carroll--Skylar Ittner

Dear Vicki,

 

I can appreciate that you and Skylar are anxious for some resolution to this matter.  Carroll staff are working as expeditiously as possible on the issues you described below, but I am unable to discuss the matter further due to the privacy requirements in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  The only FERPA release we have on file for Skylar is limited to the disclosure of financial aid and student account information and does not cover other matters.  Carroll staff will continue to communicate with Skylar on these issues, and he can contact Emily Weideman if he has any questions about the status of the pending processes.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tom

 

Thomas M. Evans, PhD

President

1601 N. Benton Ave.

Helena, MT 59625

p: 406-447-4401 | f: 406-447-4555

www.carroll.edu

 

On Feb 10, 2017, at 10:00 AM, Vicki Hentz <[email protected]> wrote:

 

Hi, Tom,

I am fairly confident that you are aware that my son, Skylar, was temporarily suspended from Carroll on February 1st.  The original terms of suspension were that he could not be on campus except for meetings with administration, but could continue to do his classwork from other locations.  However, on February 3rd, he was removed from online access to Carroll, so he has not been able to do any classwork for the past week.  He has appealed the suspension--twice--but has not been allowed back on campus.  His second appeal was made on February 8th, and he was informed yesterday that it would not be addressed until at least Monday.  His suspension is supposed to be temporary, while administrators decide if he is in violation of campus policies.  This "temporary" suspension has now caused him to miss eight days of school, with no clear end in sight.

There are many facets to discuss with this situation, but I will keep this email as brief as possible.

My son is being punished for hanging up posters supporting the Catholic teaching on same-sex marriage.  While I do not defend his every action in the aftermath of the original controversy, the fact remains that this situation would not have occurred if he had not shared the Catholic view of this matter on a public notice board, and was then charged with spreading derogatory messages.

During a meeting with Renee McMahon last Thursday, February 2nd, which I attended along with Skylar, it became painfully clear that Carroll College is not interested in upholding Catholic teachings, even though within the mission statement of the college, one reads that Carroll is committed to "avoiding a false conciliatory approach foreign to the true spirit of ecumenism."  While administrators are arguably not part of the teaching body of Carroll, it is reasonable to expect them not to argue against the teachings of the Church.  Renee, however, shared that in her personal interpretation of Pope Francis' Amoria Laetitia, she believes that the Church is now accepting same-sex relations as permissible. 

I understand that we live in a world that is hyper-sensitive and acutely politically correct.  However, to find this attitude pervasive even in a college committed to "engaging faithfully the intellectual tradition and the teachings of the Catholic Church" is a crushing disappointment.  My son has been a student at Carroll for seven semesters and is scheduled to graduate this spring.  He has endured relentless opposition to the Church's teachings during his time on campus, and is tired of being ridiculed for upholding Church teachings in classroom and casual discussions.  Skylar loves the Church, and wants to be part of the New Evangelization.  Bishop Thomas was widely quoted after a 2012 Vatican Radio interview: “My message, of course over and over again, is: No more ‘camouflage Catholics’ in our diocese! Mediocrity, the lukewarm spirit, is an enemy of the Church.”  This is the spirit in which my son tries to live his faith.  One of his posters reads, in part, "ALL PEOPLE DESERVE RESPECT. THIS DOES NOT MEAN ALL ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE ALLOWED."  This is exactly in line with Church teaching, even if some would like to pretend otherwise.

I am looking forward to having this issue resolved, but Carroll seems to be dragging its feet, and my son is certain he will be expelled, just three months before graduation.  Furthermore, this is having an impact on Skylar's volunteering for the upcoming Merit Badge University; he has taught a class for the last two years, and someone, presumably at Carroll, has now informed Chris that Skylar cannot teach this year.

I would much appreciate an open discussion of this situation where more details could be shared.

Thanks for your time, Tom,

Vicki Hentz